Do you breastfeed your baby from birth for six months? If yes your baby would be saved each year. Not just saved but enhanced, because breast milk is the perfect food for a baby’s first six months of life. No manufactured product can equal it.
August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week and Ten years after the launch of the WHO/UNICEF Global Strategy for infant and young child feeding which is under the theme: Understanding the Past Planning for the Future.
Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. Together with complementary feeding, it can save about a million children lives every year. However, globally only 37% of infants under six months of age are exclusively breastfed for the last six months.
Why breastfeeding is good for your baby…because breast milk is ready anytime, anyplace, anywhere and free, breast milk changes to meet your baby’s growing needs and there are no bottles to clean and no feeds to make up.
Some doctors and experts believe that breast milk is the best nutritional choice for infants. Breast feeding may not be possible for all women. For many women the decision to breastfeed or formula is based on their infant level, lifestyle and specific medical consideration that they might have. But it you breastfeed your child your baby’s immune system will be stronger.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 20, 1989, the Convention has (54) articles in all. One of these articles (article 24, children and young people have the right to good quality health care and to clean water, nutritious, food and a clean environment so that they will stay healthy. Rich countries should help poorer countries to achieve this.
UNICEF’s goal; is the empowerment of all women to breastfeed their children exclusively for six months and to continue breastfeeding with complementary food well into the second year and beyond.
Studies revealed that women who didn’t breastfeed or stopped breastfeeding early on had a higher risk of postpartum depression, feel it.